SAINT JEROME. OIL ON BOARD. CIRCLE OF WILLEM KEY, 16TH CENTURY.
Antiques -
Reference: ZF126
Saint Jerome. Oil on slatted panel. Surroundings of KEY, Willem. 16th century. With monogram (illegible) and dated (right ear of the saint). Oil on oak panel showing a thin, elderly male figure, dressed from the waist down in cloth, sitting on a stone bench on which a skull and a scroll of parchment appear, along with other elements. To the right of the composition, a cloth can be seen in the background, a crucified Christ on a book, a red cap on a wall, placed on a closed book and a mechanical pencil; below, a lion. Eusebius Hieronymus (c. 340-420), better known as Saint Jerome or Saint Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian saint and Father of the Church, who translated the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin at the request of Pope Damasus I (called The Vulgate, declared in 1546, at the Council of Trent, to be the authentic edition for the Latin Catholic Church). He is usually represented as in the present panel because of his desire during his life to live in asceticism and do penance for his sins. The lion is the beast that he rescued while meditating on the banks of the Jordan River and that never left the saint's side again. In the area of the saint's right ear there is an inscription, which seems to be a monogram with a date (possibly 1576). The present panel is related to the circle of Willem Key (Breda, 1516-Antwerp, 1568), a Flemish Renaissance painter specialising in portraits who, like his brother Wouters, trained in Antwerp (he with Pieter Coecke). Registered in 1549 as a citizen of Antwerp, he died suddenly in 1568 after achieving wealth and a solid social position thanks to his portraits and historical paintings, painted with a learned hand according to Lamposonio's verses on his portrait. His religious paintings were also highly appreciated. His work is preserved by important institutions such as the Dordrecht Museum, the collection of the House of Alba, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, etc.
· Size: 125x5x120 cms. / Int 104x99 cms.
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